Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1887-10-29
This was the one question that agitated
bic brain piobt ond dav


The disappearance of the two men
created no excitement, except, perhaps,
In their own companies. Gates roamed
the streets and made acquaintance
among the Federal officers, but days and
weeks rolled by and nothing occurred to
alarm him.
One day happy thought struck him.
A neighbor desired to rent his house.
Why not let him have it, and go north or
west, or anywhere, for a few years until
this horror was forgotten?
Fortunately it was easy to make safe
and satisfactory arrangements. Gates
turned over the house to his tenant, and
with the first quarters rent in his pocket
set his face northward.
III.
The war had been over ten years when
the wanderer returned In his absence
he had prospered, and his face wore the
placid composure of a man who had no
past to regret, and no secret to hide
from his fellow men.
Gates demanded the house, and his
faithful tenant gave it up. The owner
furnished it comfortably and moved in,
and appeared to be SO well pleased with
his surroundings that his old neighbors
were delighted.
81 have seen every nook and corner in
the house except the cellar" remarked u
friend who was going over the house with
the proprietor.
'"The cellarr' exclaimed Gates. "Oh,
yes, of course I'll show you that"
He led the way, and his companion
praised everything in high terms.
1.-THE wall at this end" he said, lis
well built, but 1t is more massive than
any other part of the work. it was built
to last forever"
'Just So" replied Gates, with a dry
laugh. mo, don't mean that exactly.
The supply of material was limited and
the mason used what he had. / am sat
isfied with it."
But after the departure of his guest
Gates scowled and shook his fist.
"D-n him for a meddling foolp' he
said. "What does he know about it:
Suspicious, perhaps, and wants to pry
around here Hunt / must be on my
guard"
The wretched man paced the floor.
''It is the mystery of it and not the
deed" he continued, "that weighs upon
my mind. 1 found robber in my house
and / slew him. There was no crime in
that. But had to bury two men instead
of one. Who was the second man? Who
killed him9 How came his body there:
No living person but myself could have
entered the cellar. Pshawl I am going
over the same questions that have worried
me for the last ten years. There is nc
explanation, absolutely none, and am Il
| fool to 60 on in this way"
The visit to the cellar seemed to un-
nerve Gates, and his health and spirits
began to decline.
A heavy rainstorm set in, and Gates
found himself alone one night. There
was no danger of interruption in such
weather, as nobody would care to pay q
visit except in a case of life and death.
II must see themln cried Gates, land
will"
He went to the clubhouse where the
.ools were stored, and then proceeded tc
the cellar.
1t was as hard to tear down the wall as
It had been to build it, but after awhile
the worker succeeded in removing great
mass of granite and mortar.
Gates reached over back of the wal
and pulled out skeleton covered with
tattered fragments of blue. He laid it OF
| the floor.
as that the man 1 killed or the other?'
he whispered.
Another pull and the second skeleton
rested by the side Of the first.
81 thought" gasped Gates, ''that 1 felt
something else over there"
| He stretched out both hands behind the
wall and caught something. He dragged
| it out, and threw it on the floor.
Then he held up the lamp and stared
wildly before him.
!. There were three skeletons on the floor
zone, two, three,' said Gates.
| He rubbed his eyes and began the count
again.
zone, two, threer'
| He fell on his knees and felt of each
! skeleton.
Zone, two, threer he shrieked.
1t was more than the suffering mar
could stand He toppled over, limp and
motionless, in dead faint.
Early in the morning the few people in
the streets were astonished to see Gates
running aimlessly in every direction. His
| dress was disordered and his eyes glared
like those of maniac.
Gone, two, threer he shouted.
| Several attempts were made to stop
him, but he broke away and continued to
run. Some one saw him draw long
knife, and the crowd scattered, fearing
that he was about to attack them.
Zone, two, threer' screamed the mad.
man, plunging the knife into his breast
| three times.
He fell on the sidewalk, rolled over
once and was dead when the spectators
reached the spot.
Quite sensation was caused by the dis.
covery of three skeletons in the cellar un-
der the Gates house, but the mystery was
never explained. 1t was generally sur
missed that some horrible tragedy must
have occurred there during the war, but
its nature and the parties to it could not
be ascertained. 1t was thought that
| Gates had unexpectedly come upon the
skeletons, and the fright occasioned BY
the CHASTITY spectacle had turned him into
| raving madman.-Wallace p. Reed il
Atlanta Constitution,